EASC's Institute for Chinese Studies partnered with the Battelle Center for Science and Technology Policy at the John Glenn College of Public Affairs to apply for a grant to organize the inaugural conference on how Americans and Chinese might cooperate in outer space. Ohio State’s China Gateway awarded the 2017 Connect & Collaborate grant for the project. The first bilateral event is planned for May 2018 in Columbus, followed by a second one in China the next year.  

The program’s principals are Battelle Center Director Dr. Elizabeth Newton, Professor and Director of the Institute for Chinese Studies Dr. Marjorie Chan, and Professor and Neil Armstrong Chair Dr. John M. Horack. The Chinese Society for Astronautics is the organizing partner for several organizations in the Chinese space program.

With this conference series, The Ohio State University will become the academic home for Sino-American bilateral dialogue on space.